


Costume Contest

by miraculousstorytelling



Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: Comedy, Gen, competitive Marinette
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-07-29
Updated: 2016-07-29
Packaged: 2018-07-27 10:47:03
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,856
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7615000
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/miraculousstorytelling/pseuds/miraculousstorytelling
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Cat Noir has the bright idea to enter a costume contest for Cat Noir. So does Marinette.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Costume Contest

“I’m here to enter the costume contest,” Cat Noir announced with a cheeky grin.

The woman sitting in front of him looked less impressed than he’d expected, “Name?”

“Cat Noir,” he grinned, “Isn’t it obvious?”

“Yes, sir, I see the costume,” she responded with a disgruntled sigh, “I need your name. Your…” She grimaced, as though she’d said the line more times today than she’d like to admit, “Your secret identity.”

His grin faded a little, “No, you don’t understand. I’m the _real_ Cat Noir.”

“Okay. Fine. I’ll just put you down as Real Cat Noir #16.” She handed him a number and waved him away, too tired to argue.

He accepted it, pressing the sticker to his chest with a shrug. At least he knew his fans were devoted. And outnumbered, he realized as he glanced around to see nearly four Ladybug costumes for each Cat Noir costume. Well, he couldn’t argue with their taste, he thought with a small smile. He’d considered a Ladybug costume himself, but in the end, he couldn’t resist the allure of wandering around as Cat Noir for an entire day with no akuma to fight.

He briefly wondered if Ladybug had a similar thought…

“Hey, great costume!” one contestant smiled at him, sporting a rather impressive Ladybug costume himself, “Good luck!”

“Yours, too!” he responded with a two finger salute, “Good luck!”

Seeing all of this, especially one particularly precious baby dressed in a Cat Noir onesie, made the cheese buffet Cat Noir had promised Plagg as a bribe for coming here worth it.

“All right, everyone line up, please!” A peppy worker announced via megaphone, “The contest will start soon. Remember, walk across the stage, pose, offstage. The judges will then pick the top fifteen costumes for the final round. Ladybugs first, then Cat Noirs.”

The contestants shuffled into place, ordering themselves by the number they’d been given. Cat Noir walked to the back, casually eyeing the other costumes. He almost felt guilty, seeing how much effort others had obviously put into their costumes. After all, who could possibly beat the real thing? Maybe he’d decline the award when he won and announce himself as the real thing…

His thoughts came to an abrupt halt when his eye caught one particular contestant in front of him.

“Marinette?” he murmured under his breath. The costumed girl turned to catch a glimpse of the competition, and he looked her over in shock. Undoubtedly, Marinette stood five people away in a shockingly accurate Cat Noir costume. Wow, did she pull it off, though. He ducked out of sight briefly, examining the details. Black cat ears poked out from her hair, loose instead of worn in her typical pigtails. Small, silver claws adorned her fingertips, and a silver staff rested in the small of her back. Her belt tail was identical to his, and she had somehow even managed to duplicate his green eyes. Green gauze, maybe? Either way, he was impressed and beyond flattered.

“Places!” The announcer grinned, “Let’s go!”

The first Ladybug walked across stage, striking a pose, and moving off, quickly followed by the second. A stream of people slowly crossed the stage, showing off varying levels of costume quality. Cat Noir could barely glimpse them from his place near the back of the line, and he’d be lying if he said part of him wasn’t looking for a sign his lady was actually here.

Despite the number of impressive costumes, none of them were the real deal. He should have known. Cat Noir sighed. She was probably too responsible to take part in something like this.

“Cat Noirs, you’re up!” the announcer chirped, perhaps enjoying his job a bit too much.

As he stepped out of sight of the stage, Cat Noir smiled, his eyes returning to Marinette’s impressive costume. How long had she spent on it? He was torn between approaching her to ask about it and-

She was looking at him.

He blushed, suddenly realizing she had been watching him stare at her for what was probably an inappropriately long amount of time.

Marinette waved with a smile, and he waved back, feeling every inch the awkward teenager he was under the suit. The sensation was not new, given how often Ladybug cut him down to size, but Marinette evoking these feelings certainly was.

He watched as she walked onstage, more confident than he had anticipated, and twirled the tip of her tail while sending the judges a two-fingered salute. Wow. She’d even stolen his moves, and he couldn’t care less.

By the time his turn came, he had recovered enough to strut onstage and strike a pose that might have made even his father weep at how the light hit him just right. He winked and leapt offstage. A few of the other contestants looked at him with starstruck eyes. Marinette just looked stunned. Well, stunned was better than nothing, he thought to himself, but he was secretly just a little disappointed she wasn’t one of the contestants looking at him like he’d stolen their hearts out from under their noses.

Wait, when did he start wanting Marinette to look at him like that?

The girl in question walked over to him with a small smile, “I love your costume. Did you make it yourself?”

He chuckled, “Well, I had a little help…”

Her brows furrowed as she looked him over. Inches away, he could easily observe the subtle details of her costume. She even appeared to be wearing colored contacts. Their few brief meetings must have made quite the impact…

Marinette’s mind was racing as she looked Cat Noir up and down. No doubt about it, this was the actual, real Cat Noir. The stupid cat had actually entered a costume contest for himself, which, honestly, shouldn’t have surprised her. He was lucky she had a secret identity to protect or she would have lit into him for being so reckless.

“Your costume looks incredible, Marinette.” He winked at her.

Her eyes widened in feigned shock, “How did you know my name?”

“Don’t tell anyone, but…” He leaned in to whisper, “I’m the real Cat Noir. We’ve met before.”

She stepped back, covering her mouth to suppress giggles. Was he always this dramatic? Instead, she sent him the most concerned look she could muster, “What? Is it safe for you to be out here like this?”

He chuckled, waving a hand dismissively, “Don’t worry about me, little lady. I can take care of myself.”

Oh, she could punch him for that. He could take care of himself? Who exactly did he think saved his tail when they were stuck under a glass box on a sinking ship after facing down Evillustrator? “It seems a little unfair to enter a costume contest using your real costume.” She couldn’t help it. As much as she tried to play the starry-eyed fan for him, she was just itching to knock some sense into him.

He stepped back a little, then shrugged, “Well, I was planning to turn down the award when I win. I just wanted to spend a little time with my fans.”

“When?” her lips quirked into a small, sly smile, “Don’t you mean if?”

The announcer cut off his response, calling out a series of numbers. Cat Noir was thrilled to hear that both he and Marinette had made it to the final round. The Ladybug finalists were judged first, and Cat Noir winced at hearing some of the harsh comments from one judge in particular. Maybe he’d get an akuma fight after all…

A rather impressive Ladybug costume won, complete with functioning yo-yo and stylized wig. The winner was ecstatic, joyfully waving at the crowd and the judges. Marinette smiled as she watched.

“So, why Cat Noir?” he asked softly, clapping for the Ladybug winner.

She sent him a small smirk, “How about I tell you if you win?”

That comment startled him. Sure, Marinette had shown a bit of a competitive streak during the gaming tournament earlier in the year, but Cat Noir was surprised to see the extent of it. Was she actually _taunting_ him?

Marinette was asking herself the same question. Why _was_ she taunting him? She had to be careful. Ladybug could tease Cat Noir like this, but Marinette wasn’t close enough to do so. If she kept this up, he might get suspicious. Perhaps dressing as Cat Noir was bringing out a reckless side of her she hadn’t even anticipated having.

He snickered as they were led onstage, “Okay. Deal.”

One by one, the judges offered critiques of the costumes, and Cat Noir was confident his would pass with flying colors.

Which made the judges’ comments that much more shocking.

“Hmmm… The tail is a little too long.”

“I think the eyes are the wrong shade of green.”

“The ears are too far back.”

“And those nails? Those are much too short.”

“Your wig is pretty good, though.”

Marinette struggled not to laugh at the devastated expression on his face.

When the judges reached her, they had mild critiques, but overall the tone was much more flattering than Cat Noir’s. One judge even asked where she’d gotten her baton, which gifted her with the chance to demonstrate that, through some clever engineering, it actually extended and retracted a foot or two. The judges moved on and Cat Noir was stunned when Marinette sent him a cocky grin he could only imagine she had stolen from him.

“And the winner is…” The left-most judge announced with a smile once the last costume had been critiqued, “Marinette Dupain-Cheng!”

Marinette stepped forward to accept the small trophy and waved at the crowd with a dazzling smile. Not only had she beaten out the real Cat Noir, _now she could rub it in his face_.

Cat Noir chuckled as he watched her send the judges another of his signature two-fingered salute. If he had to lose to anyone, at least it was her.

Once they had left the stage, he offered her a hand, “Hey, congrats. You did a really great job.”

She beamed, “Yeah, I did!” Rather than shake his hand, she gleefully held up her trophy, “And I did it _without_ cheating.”

“Hey!” He scowled, hands on his hips, “I wouldn’t have accepted it.”

“Then why even enter in the first place?” she asked, genuine curiosity briefly winning out over teasing him.

“Well…” Cat Noir seemed to consider the question for a moment before smiling, “It was fun.”

Marinette couldn’t help but laugh, “You’re…ridiculous, aren’t you?”

He blushed, “What? Come on. I’m awesome.”

Smirking once again, Marinette waved the trophy in his face, “Say that to my _trophy_.” A chime sounded from one of her zippered pockets, and Marinette pulled out her phone, “Oh, Alya’s waiting on me.” She winked at him, “See you later, Cat Noir.” Then, with another salute, she left.

Cat Noir stared after her. Did she really just wink at him? He might just have to talk to Marinette as Cat Noir more often. She was a lot more fun than he would have guessed.

**Author's Note:**

> Also posted on tumblr under miraculousstorytelling.


End file.
